1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an imaging apparatus including an imaging element that can output, as pixel information, a photoelectrically-converted electrical signal from a pixel arbitrarily designated as a target to be read from among a plurality of pixels for imaging.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, in the field of medicine, an endoscope system is used to observe an organ of a subject, such as a patient. The endoscope system includes: an insertion portion that is in an elongated flexible shape and to be inserted into a body cavity of a subject; an imaging unit that is arranged at a distal end of the insertion portion and captures an in-vivo image; and a display unit that can display the in-vivo image captured by the imaging unit. To capture an in-vivo image by using the endoscope system, the insertion portion is inserted into a body cavity of a subject, and thereafter, illumination light, such as white light, is irradiated to body tissues in the body cavity from the distal end of the insertion portion and the imaging unit captures an in-vivo image. A user, such as a doctor, observes an organ of the subject based on the in-vivo image displayed by the display unit.
To perform observation by using the endoscope system, in some cases, a plurality of types of illuminations are switched at predetermined timings. As such method of illumination, for example, a frame sequential method is known in which a plurality of types of illumination lights for three color components of red (R), green (G), and blue (B) are sequentially switched (see, for example, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2006-280465). In this technology, images are individually captured under sequentially-switched illumination light by using a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) image sensor.